In 1968, The Boys in the Band opened off-Broadway and ran for 1,001 performances before being turned into a movie. At the time, the play was revolutionary for its depiction of gay men on stage. Considered groundbreaking, the opinions of this piece vary. Some viewed the portrayals as “self-homophobic, low esteem characters.” Others saw the play as a coming out of the closet for the gay rights movement that followed. For its 50th anniversary, The Boys in the Band has been revived on Broadway with a cast of openly gay actors.
Michael (Jim Parsons) is hosting a birthday party for his best friend Harold (Zachary Quinto). The party banter is bitchy shade before alcohol and pot open some serious wounds. Think Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with extra sharp knives. The catalyst for the drama is Michael who has been trying to stay off the bottle. A surprise visit from his college roommate has him trying to control the boys into acting straight. Hard to do when one of the birthday gifts is a hustler dressed as the Midnight Cowboy. A party game drama unfolds and then explodes.
The laughs are in huge supply as are the depths of anguish. The play confronts the hatred and self-deprecation faced by some homosexuals head on. Some found the picture painted too bleakly. The story is indeed rough but, like it or not, there are characters in this play fifty years later who still ring true. The Boys in the Band is a period piece for sure. Joe Mantello’s strong directorial hand and the entire cast’s finely detailed performances add color and nuance to the words giving us a staging worth celebrating.
A year after this play was first produced, the Stonewall Riots occurred and the gay liberation movement took shape. While The Boys in the Band flirts with gay stereotypes and aggressively embraces negative emotions, it’s existence is undeniably important to the history of LGBT rights in America. For that reason alone, the play is essential viewing. The fact that this revival is so good is a happy 50th birthday bonus and a beacon for continuing forward (not backward) down the yellow brick road toward tolerance and freedoms for all.